Little Big Problem
by TheMuseumOfJeanette
Summary: Eld's fiancee's niece is dropping in for a visit but when Eld is suddenly called in to run an errand he finds himself unable to watch over her. Seeing his situation Petra, being the good friend she is, decides on covering for him. Little did she knew she was in for quite the handful. Who knew kids could be so out of control?


**Haha a friend of mine gave me this little idea and urged me to make a story out of it so gotta thank her lol! Sort of AU I think. Anyways hope you enjoy. :)**

 **Little Big Problem**

* * *

It was morning and Petra was feeling in a particularly good mood. They had the day off which she was grateful for. It was good to wind down from time to time. Walking down the halls she noticed Eld pacing back and forth looking troubled. "Hey, morning Eld-san, is something wrong?"

He smiled weakly at her. "Aah, morning Petra. It's just... I was supposed to watch over my fiancée's niece, Nina, but something's come up. The problem is she's already on her way and I don't know what to do. I have to travel into town to get some urgent supplies and deliver them but I can't take Nina with me."

Petra eyed the man sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I could watch over Nina for you if you'd like."

"Really? I wouldn't want to burden you on your day off."

"It's fine, really!" She replied with a smile. "I'd be happy to help. Leave it to me."

A genuine smile graced him as he took her hand with both of his. "Thank you, I'll make this up to you. I swear."

"Jeez, I'm only babysitting. Don't get so dramatic Eld-san." Petra joked.

"Right, why don't you go and eat something and I'll bring her to you when she arrives?"

Petra nodded and made her way into the kitchen. She prepared some coffee.

"Still here?"

She turned to see Levi entering the kitchen. "Oh, morning Heichou. Would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah." He said and soon she poured him a cup. "I thought for sure you'd be gone. Lucky me then since my coffee tastes like shit."

She smiled at his almost compliment. "Why are you still here Heichou?"

"I don't get days off. There's loads of crap I have to do and papers to sign. Pretty shitty but that's life." Levi replied before taking a sip of his coffee. "So, what are you still doing here? Auruo and Gunter have already left. The brat may have better titan control now but he still isn't allowed to roam too far from here; I don't recall you being chained to this place though."

"I'm going to watch over Eld-san's fiancée's niece for him because he has some errands to do."

Levi raised a brow. "You're going to watch over some runt on your day off? And I thought I had it shitty."

"I'm here!" Eld called as he made his way into the kitchen, a short little girl following behind him. "Morning Heichou."

Levi only grunted in response.

Petra stood up and walked over to the two. She leaned down and smiled at the girl. "I take it you're Nina? I'm Petra, nice to meet you."

The girl smiled. "Hi! I hope we can be best friends!"

Eld frowned. "Now you be on your best behavior Nina. I mean it, no causing trouble for Petra."

In response Nina threw her arms around Petra. "I'd never!"

"Eld-san she's so adorable!" Petra said earning a grin from Nina. "I don't see how she could possibly be any trouble."

Eld sighed and gave her a warning glance. "Just be careful. She can be a bit... hyper. I'll be back after sunset." He said his goodbye to Levi before shooting Petra a final glance.

 _Good luck Petra, you'll need it._

Petra led the girl to one of the seats and ruffled her hair. She noticed Levi had already finished cleaning his cup and was placing it in its proper place. "Heichou, don't you want to say hello? She's so cute."

"I'll pass. Don't make a bloody mess and keep it to a dull roar." Levi replied in a dry tone. He stopped right at the door. "The coffee was good." And just like that he was off.

Petra stared at the spot where he'd been, a dumb smile and blush at his full, not almost, compliment. "Heichou..."

"You like him."

This caused her to instantly turn to the small girl. "You say something Nina?"

"I said you like him. And it's true. Now you do as I say for the entire time I'm here or I blab it to him, and the entire world. Your choice."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

* * *

"Would you like some more soup, Queen Nina?" Petra practically growled at the girl sitting on her shoulders.

"How kind of you, peasant."

Stomping over to the counter she poured the soup into the bowl and handed it to Nina. As she had done with the previous two bowls she placed the bowl over Petra's head, as if she were some table, and began digging in, bits of debris flying onto her hair making her cringe.

"I don't want to be inside my palace anymore peasant; I'd like a tour of the town, my kingdom."

"Outside?" Petra repeated in shock. No, please no. She'd never live down that humiliation.

"Unless you wanna take me to your lover's room instead?"

Within seconds they were outside and eventually in town, walking through the -all of a sudden- crowded area. Since when were there so many people out? Several onlookers were staring and some were even chuckling at the sight. Then again who wouldn't? She was carrying a five year old on her shoulders that had a soup bowl on her head. At least nobody she knew was around.

"Petra, is that you?"

 _Oh God kill me now._

This was absolutely the last person she would have wanted to encounter. "Good afternoon Commander Erwin. What brings you here?"

"I'm running a couple of errands." He said before nodding in Nina's direction. "Relative of yours?"

"No Sir," The 'thank goodness she isn't' bit was kept to herself. "I'm merely babysitting for one of my comrades."

Nina lowered her head and whispered so only Petra could hear. "Tell him you've always liked his eyebrows and that they are amazing, and remind you of the shining sun."

"W-What? I can't. He's my superior."

"And I'm your Queen. Now say it." At her reluctance she smirked. "Okay have it your way." She made a show and coughed dramatically. "Excuse me mister, but did you know Petra likes—"

"Um Sir!" Petra cut in quickly and successfully got Erwin's attention. Her face had to be bright red. It just had to.

"Yes?"

Here goes nothing.

"I- I- I've always liked your amazing eyebrows because looking at them reminds me of the shining sun!"

Silence.

Absolute silence.

 **... ... …. …. ... ... ... …. …. ... ... ... ….**

"Wahahaha! I can't believe you said it!"

Now, back in the castle's kitchen and miles away from Erwin, she truly began to wallow in her shame. "You know blackmail is a serious crime, right?"

"One look at my puppy dog face and I'll have the military right where I want them!"

Petra slammed her head against the table. There was no beating this kid. It's as if she were a general trapped in a kid's body. With a sigh of defeat she reached over for one of the breads. Spending half a day with this child (whom could be the offspring of a titan despite the impossibility) got her pretty hungry.

"Hey, where do babies come from?"

The abrupt question caused her to almost choke on her bread. "Excuse me?"

"Babies, I asked where babies come from."

Petra chuckled nervously and ruffled Nina's hair. "Oh you! Why don't we talk about something else?"

"Okay, yeah. Where do horses come from then?"

She groaned. It was almost the same thing. How to put this delicately? "Well, uh, you see... when a horse and another horse love each other very much—"

"Petra-san!" Eren greeted cheerfully as he entered the kitchen unknowingly saving her from a potentially disastrous conversation. "Good afternoon."

"Hi Eren." She returned the greeting gratefully. "The coffee is still hot if you'd like some. Here, let me." Her glee was at an all time high as she stepped away from the evil little girl.

"Thanks. Hey who's the girl?" Eren asked as he noticed the small girl at the table. "And why are you still here?"

She scoffed. "Eld-san dumped his fiancée's niece onto me."

Eren paused and eyed her in disbelief. Petra was hardly ever rude, besides with Auruo. "You're unusually irritated Petra-san. Is this an inconvenience?"

"Not quite an inconvenience just... the kid is a bit out of control."

Eren chuckled. "I think you're overreacting. She's only an adorable little girl. I'll introduce myself."

"Your funeral," She muttered as Eren approached Nina.

"Hi there, I'm Eren. What's your name?" He greeted while taking a seat.

"I'm Nina. Would you like to play? Hey, I hear you have horses here! I wanna see the horses!"

A dark thought crossed Petra, yes, Nina was rubbing off on her. She placed her hands on Eren's shoulder from behind and smiled. "Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea! Nina I think this would be the perfect time for you to get to know your Uncle Eren here. Is that okay Eren?"

"I was actually—"

"Good! Thanks Eren!" And with that Petra was gone.

She was free! Finally, finally free! Petra glanced upwards at the sky, thanking the heavens for this. Now she can finish some stuff she planned on doing; like her traditional letter to her father. But first, a shower. It wasn't until half an hour later did a sudden knock break her peace. She sighed and opened her door before gasping at the sight.

"Eren! What did she do to you?!"

Eren's appearance was a mess. His shirt was crumpled from where she guessed Nina must've dangled from; there were several brown stains on his shirt too that she hoped were mud stains; his hair was sticky from whatever content she must've dumped on him; and his face had numerous markings on him that most likely came from a marker.

He clung onto her in desperation. "It was awful! It was- it was... hell!" His eyes turned dark. "How could you?"

Petra led him inside and made him sit on her bed but he ended up collapsing on it. "I'm sorry but um, I sort of warned you." Suddenly she narrowed her eyes. "Eren, where is she?"

"Don't have the slightest idea. Gave me the slip after dropping some soup over my head, little rascal."

"I'll go find her."

"She's out of control." He murmured before knocking out right there.

Petra sighed for what must've been the hundredth time today. She'd just cleaned the bed and now it'd smell like soup and mud. _Hopefully that's mud._ She didn't dare confirm it though. It was her fault anyway so she figured she deserved this. It probably wouldn't be easy finding a little girl in a giant castle but that's her luck.

Firstly she checked the stables since that was the first area they'd gone to but it was empty and thankfully the horses were all in one piece. Eventually she headed into the kitchen but that was empty too. Petra had looked top to bottom; where in the world was this girl? Just as she was about to check the rooms again a familiar voice cut her off.

"Oi, Petra?"

She froze. There stood Levi in the hallway, holding the culprit from the back of the shirt. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Petra tried not to laugh at the fact that both Levi and Nina had similar scowls on their face. "Oh, thank you Heichou!"

He tossed the girl onto Petra. "Found the brat in my office. Be more responsible Petra. Didn't I make myself clear earlier?"

She lowered her eyes. "Yes, forgive me Sir."

"You can't just throw me around like a rag doll, old man!"

Petra winced when she noticed Levi had twitched. She placed a hand over the girls mouth. "Oh hahaha isn't she precious? Please excuse me Heichou!" God she had to get out of there.

Unfortunately the girl had other ideas and squirmed out of Petra's grip. She eyed Levi before turning to Petra with a devilish grin. "Do you and Mr. Old Levi kiss?"

 _Good lord,_ She thought and her jaw dropped. "Huh!?"

Levi only watched, unamused.

"My Mama and Papa always do it!"

"Well, yes, but me and Levi-Heichou aren't a 'Mama and Papa'." Petra explained, doing her best to remain calm. If this little girl wanted to humiliate her beyond repair then it was working.

"Mr. Old Levi, I order you to kiss her!"

"Tch, little shi—"

"Heichou!" Petra quickly cut him off. She didn't want the kid having _this_ vocabulary at home. She returned her gaze to Nina who was waiting. "Anyway, we aren't doing that."

She pouted and shot an accusing finger at Levi. "He said he'd do anything for me!"

Petra glanced at him. "Heichou, why?"

He shrugged. "Only said it so she could piss out my office."

"You're an old man who can't even keep his word?" She yelled, further irritating him. "Some soldier you are!"

He frowned. No way in hell was he about to be told off by some little baby. Without wasting another second he turned to Petra. "Shall we?"

"Yes Sir— What!?" Petra gasped as he neared her. Her body began trembling while a shade of red covered her face. Was he serious? Was he really serious? How could he let a child get to him? Sure she was manipulative but still! Goodness his face was getting closer and closer. What's that loud noise? Was that her heart? "H-Heichou you're not really going to...?"

He didn't respond, only inched closer. His face was expressionless as always yet there was something in his eyes, something she couldn't explain. It's happening! It's really happening! He's going to kiss her! Hallelujah!

 _Bless you Nina,_ her mind shouted. Her eyes fluttered shut and her lips parted slightly, almost impatiently. Perhaps the child wasn't as evil as she had initially thought.

"Petra!"

Hange's voice echoing down the halls had her jumping back away from him. She almost wanted to cry out in frustration. Her one time, ruined!

"There you are! I've been looking—" Hange paused turning to see Levi and the small girl. There was a short silence in which Hange glanced from Nina, to Levi, and back to Petra. She did this twice before her brows furrowed. "Did you two just adopt some kid?"

Before Levi could release hell Petra quickly spoke. "It isn't like that! I'm babysitting!"

"Fuck this," Levi said and pocketed his hands. "I don't want to see the brat again Petra. Got it?"

"Y-Yes Sir!"

"Hmm... is it me or is he in an angrier mood than usual?" Hange muttered before shrugging. "Anyway, Petra, I need a favor. You see Moblit's caught the flu going around and I need a new helper around."

"You mean you're looking for a new lapdog?"

"Whoa! Is that some sass I detect? You've been around shorty for too long."

Petra glanced at Nina. "You could be right."

Wait.

Petra glanced at Nina and then back to Hange. "Actually, I may be busy but my little friend here is quite the helper."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah! Just don't go creeping her out with your titan stories and experiments, okay?" Petra said before nudging Nina towards Hange. "Go on, I'm sure you two will get along!"

Hours later and it was safe to say it'd worked. Not once had Hange come to her looking like she'd just been run over by a wagon. Due to Eren still being passed out on her bed she had to settle with writing her letter on one of the couches on the upper floors. Her dad was definitely going to enjoy this one. It'd be a change from all the previous ones which revolved around Levi. She realized that the sun was about to set so it was time for picking Nina up.

She knocked on Hange's door. "Um, Hange-san?"

Hange opened the door and held a finger to her lips. "Ssh she's sleeping."

"How did you even manage that!?"

"I said keep your voice down Petra," Hange scolded her.

Petra clamped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry." It was as Hange had said; the girl was asleep on one of the chairs and leaning on the desk, her head resting gently against her arms. It was unbelievable. "Hange-san, teach me."

Hange shrugged. "I guess my stories put her to sleep." Before Petra could speak she cut her off. "Don't worry it didn't include titans. Perhaps that's why it was boring?"

It was hard to believe that this sleeping girl was the same one who'd been making her day a nightmare. "Well, Eld-san should be arriving at any moment to pick her up so I'll be on my way."

She picked Nina up and smiled softly as the girl wrapped her small arms around her unconsciously. "Thanks for the help Hange-san. And by the way this place is a mess."

"Organized mess," Hange corrected before lifting her head from her book. "Oh that reminds me, here."

Petra used an arm to balance Nina while reaching out to take a folded paper from Hange. "Hmm? What's this?"

"Nina was coloring on that desk but dropped it accidentally when she fell asleep."

Petra pocketed the paper before heading off to her castle home. Thankfully Eld was already inside. She shook the girl lightly. "Nina, Eld-san is here to take you home."

The girl lifted her sleepy head. "Uncle Eld?"

"I'm so sorry for this Petra. I hope she wasn't too much trouble." Eld said as Petra gently placed Nina on her feet.

"She—" Petra began but paused briefly at the girl's sleepy yawn, an innocent expression decorating her face. Petra smiled, shaking her head. "She was fine."

Eld stared at her in disbelief before smiling. "Thank you and I'll make this up to you."

"Oh wait," Petra halted him as she recalled the paper. She handed it to Nina. "Here, you made this didn't you?"

Some of the young girl's senses came back at seeing the paper. She blushed lightly before slowly pushing the hand back. "I um, it's... I made it for you. B-Bye!" Not waiting for a reply she ran back to where Eld was.

Petra was speechless as the two exited the door, even blinking a couple times at the closed door. Finally regaining her bearings she unfolded the paper. Inside was a drawing of a small brunette girl holding a copper haired girl's hand, with both smiling. Beneath the drawing was a message that read: For my friend Petra. Thank you for the fun day!

Her face softened. "What's this? Hehe you silly girl."

There was still one thing left to do before Petra can finally call it a day. It was too important that it couldn't wait.

* * *

"So you see I was only babysitting and I didn't want to upset Nina. She's very sensitive and would most certainly have cried had I not said what she told me to say." Petra lied through her teeth.

Erwin nodded in understanding. "Yes I see. That's fine."

Petra couldn't believe how smoothly it was going. "Thank you for understanding Commander Erwin. If you'll excuse me Sir, I'll be on my way." She had barely taken a step to the door when he'd called out her name. "Yes?"

She could swear she saw some insecurity in his eyes. But that couldn't be. The Commander self conscious? Yeah right! Although when he spoke again (in his serious tone and face) is when she was truly baffled. To be honest, she didn't know if he was serious or not. She still doesn't.

"Does this mean you don't find my eyebrows amazing?"

She stared at him.

He stared back.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

 **... ... …. …. ... ... ... …. …. ... ... ... ….**

This had been the most tiring, exhausting day (the titans be damned) she'd ever had. Her body was drained and her willpower was extinguished. She had no idea when Eren had left her room nor did she care that it was still dirty; it was empty and it made it that much more easier to simply drop unceremoniously onto it. It was only once her head had made contact with the pillow did she come to a horrid realization.

It wasn't mud.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **And to all those who know me already, I'm back guys! Lately I've gotten into this fandom so expect loads more! Hope you were able to get a laugh from this story. Make sure you let Erwin know how amazing his eyebrows are before you go. :)**


End file.
